Second Movement
by silvershadeus
Summary: Companion fic to Night Music - Aya and Ken have a conversation


Aya stood cloaked in shadows cast by the overhead lights

The first of the companion fics to _Night Music._ I just couldn't leave Aya and Kenken out of the loop.

silvershadeus

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**Second Movement**

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Aya stood cloaked in shadows cast by the overhead lights, eyes locked on the two figures below him on the main floor of the ski lodge.

Inwardly, he smiled at the sight of the two blond heads close together, the older assassin teaching the younger the finer points of playing the piano. He had sensed there was something between the two for a while now – probably even before they realized it themselves.

For all his affected coldness, his callous indifference, Aya made it a point to know – to _understand_ the people he entrusted his life to night after night. So he watched, and he learned from them.

He knew them better than perhaps even they themselves did. He knew that Yohji always picked his cigarettes from the back of the pack first, that Omi always tied his left shoe first, and Ken…

Ken was strangely enough, the most difficult one of them to get a mental grasp of. He was the one that Aya found hardest to understand, and he couldn't say why.

It puzzled him no end, and he was highly annoyed by that. He was trained to observe, to analyze what he saw, but Ken was an enigma to him.

"Oi, Aya."

Turning, the red head raised one finely crafted eyebrow in silent inquiry.

He saw a flash of teeth as Ken grinned disarmingly at him; dark eyes alight with mischief.

"Spying on them?"

Violet eyes narrowed at the teasing tone in the younger boy's voice.

"Iie."

Giving him a dubious look, Ken leaned against the wall opposite Aya, crossing his arms over his chest as he absently blew a lock of hair out of his eyes.

"You've got them completely snowed, you know."

Looking up sharply, Aya straightened, tensing.

"Omi and Yohji, I mean. They think you're just a heartless bastard."

Something very much like hurt flashed through the violet eyes at the quietly uttered words, and Ken smiled inwardly as he caught it. _So. The great Fujimiya Aya isn't quite so unfeeling as he would have us believe, eh?_

"What do you want, Ken?"

Closing his eyes, Ken allowed a slow smile to cross his face.

"What makes you think I want anything, Aya?"

Silence, broken only by the awkward sounds of Omi's piano lesson from below.

Opening his eyes as he heard Aya shift restlessly, Ken's smile faded.

"What do _you_ want, Aya? I always see you watching us, trying to figure us out – but I never see you doing that for yourself. I never see you stopping to ask yourself why _you_ do something. Why you insist on keeping the order forms perfectly parallel, why you always have to stand in the shadows…alone."

Aya stared wide-eyed at Ken, his breath coming in short, rapid breaths. He felt trapped, caged, like a target ensnared in Yohji's wires…only…

"Aya, why won't you let us help you? We're here for you, and not just for back up. We're your _friends,_ dammit."

Snorting derisively, Aya looked away from the dark gaze, suddenly unable to meet Ken's watchful eyes.

He felt a pang as he heard Omi's soft laughter, Yohji's deeper voice joining in – and he felt cut off from it all. Isolated.

"Aya, sooner or later you're going break if you don't let us in. I know you. You think that you're the one on the outside, but you're not. You're the one keeping _us_ out."

Whirling to face the dark haired boy, Aya felt a surge of anger wash over him. How dare he? How dare Ken presume to know him, what he was thinking? How could he? Ken had no idea what he'd gone through, what nightmares tormented him in his sleep.

"You have no right to judge me."

Ken's eyes narrowed at Aya's icy tone of voice. He should have known the older assassin would react like that. It was how Aya dealt with the pain, the sorrow. He held it close to him like a small child jealously guarding a favorite toy.

"I'm not judging you, Aya. I'm trying to help you – we all are. You're not the only one who hurts inside, Aya. You'd see that if you just opened your eyes and looked at us…_really_ looked at us."

Again, the silence.

Shaking his head, Ken turned to go, sparing a last look over his shoulder at the quiet redhead.

"I lied, you know."

Aya tensed, a sharp ache in his chest. Of course, Ken had lied; it was foolish of him to think that after all that had happened he might deserve a glimpse of happiness.

"About what?" He demanded gruffly.

Looking away, Ken smiled sadly to himself. He had not missed the flash of pain in Aya's eyes.

"Omi and Yohji. They know you care, Aya. They know you're not the heartless bastard you pretend to be."

With those quiet words, he walked away, leaving Aya standing alone in the shadows, the only sound the bittersweet melody of Yohji's song. 


End file.
